Hidden Faction, Attacker Appears

Hidden Side Quest: Supernatural Ability User Purge (Hidden Faction Mission, Repeatable)

Mission Description: ??? denies the existence of Supernatural Ability Users. Kill the Ability Users of this world.

Mission Reward: For every Ability User killed, gain Reputation based on their strength. Reach Respected Reputation to unlock the Reputation Shop.

Mission Penalty: Be hunted by Spirit World Creatures for three mission worlds.

Li Qingzi panted. The powerful Reincarnator’s aura behind her had vanished. Under Suzuki Toichiro’s arrangements, she had originally planned to head straight to J City to find Mercenary Tao.

But halfway there, she had been caught up in an unexpected team battle mission. A five-man Reincarnator squad had been farming milestones in W City by hunting Professional Heroes, dragging her into the conflict.

As Li Qingzi was currently rather short on resources, she had decisively drawn her sword and killed three of them.

But during the pursuit, she had unexpectedly encountered Tang Sanzang, a powerful follower of the Great Sun of Finality.

It was said that he had participated in the contest for a Supreme Expert title and ranked among the best of the Title-level Reincarnators. After only two exchanges, Li Qingzi had already realized she was no match for him.

She immediately activated Divine Speed and fled, ultimately plunging headfirst into the Spirit World Infested Zone.

She raised her head and saw that the sky here was incredibly strange, entirely pitch-black like thick ink constantly churning. Yet the buildings of the city and the air around her flickered with dazzling fluorescent light, keeping the world from sinking into complete darkness.

This was probably an abandoned city. Its buildings and streets were remarkably well preserved, but there was not a single trace of human life within it.

Li Qingzi hid beneath a building and watched as the giant humanoid creature retreated from outside the Spirit World Infested Zone. She guessed that it was the target Suzuki Toichiro wanted to gather various Supernatural Ability Users to defeat: ???

Li Qingzi fully activated her Observation Haki. Suddenly turning around, she saw several green ghostly flames ignite within the dark hallway and drift toward her.

Her Gantz Sword instantly extended to nearly two meters, fully coated in Armament Haki.

"Heh, that aura… You’re not a good person, are you? Trying to kill me?"

The voice was deep, yet its tone was inexplicably comical.

Li Qingzi watched the ghostly flames float before her, revealing a green spirit that consisted of nothing but a head. The spirit had two patches of red "blush" on its face.

This was…

She had also read the story of Mob Psycho 100 and recognized this spirit as one of its important characters—Dimple.

Li Qingzi’s hesitation instead caused Dimple’s expression to darken.

"You know me…"

"I don’t know you, yet you know me, and you possess unusual combat abilities… I see. You’re one of those people too…"

Dimple’s voice became inexplicably eerie and chilling. The ghostly flames began to burn, and in only moments, Dimple’s spirit body began to grow larger while also becoming more insubstantial.

"You people… You turned him into what he is now, and you still refuse to let him go…"

Dimple’s gaze moved from Li Qingzi’s face to the ground as powerful psychic energy began to emerge.

He truly hated these inexplicable people. They were far more evil than any Grudge Spirit he had ever seen.

"You people…"

Dimple’s voice began to change. Li Qingzi retreated several steps, sensing that the building itself seemed to be warping as an extreme danger began to spread.

A Bound Spirit?

Among yin spirits, Bound Spirits were not particularly high-level. In fact, for a spirit body, becoming a Bound Spirit was a form of torment and Binding Vow.

It meant being forever unable to leave that place, becoming a prisoner.

But correspondingly, Bound Spirits possessed greater power within the environment they occupied.

Bang!

The ground exploded instantly. Li Qingzi leaped backward in an instant, smashing through the glass and returning to the dim street. Dimple moved to the edge of the building, and its base began to warp as though a gigantic arm were about to stretch out from within.

Li Qingzi’s thoughts raced, and she quickly realized that this world had likely been interfered with by Reincarnators before. Shigeo Kageyama had become what he was now, while Dimple had turned into a Bound Spirit and come to hate Reincarnators.

There was a reason for everything.

"Do you want Shigeo Kageyama to return to normal, Dimple?"

As she spoke, Li Qingzi accepted the Hidden Mission.

You have joined the Hidden Faction: Spirit World Revelation. Current Reputation: Stranger (1/100)

Sure enough, once she accepted the mission and joined this Hidden Faction, the omnipresent danger within her Observation Haki weakened considerably.

She took a deep breath, feeling that she might have inadvertently found the best path for maneuvering among the powerful Title-level Reincarnator teams in this world.

Without hesitation, she betrayed Suzuki Toichiro’s Claw Organization.

Even after accumulating energy for thirty years, he had been unable to match Shigeo Kageyama in his ??? state. With only three years of accumulation now, defeating ??? was simply unrealistic.

As for her "master," Bai Cangshu, making such a grand show of becoming a Hero for Fun, he was obviously trying to find a breakthrough through Saitama.

That was probably the method with the highest theoretical chance of success, but it was far too dangerous.

Li Qingzi no longer intended to prioritize rejoining him. The rewards for this Hidden Mission were actually quite generous.

It only required killing Ability Users, but from Dimple’s words, she could tell that ??? was actually hostile toward all individuals with supernatural powers.

Supernatural Ability Users, Reincarnators, even those heroes and monsters with all kinds of strange powers—they probably all met the requirements…

All she needed to do was… kill!

"Lady Fubuki, there have been multiple Supernatural Ability User attacks in W City. We’ve received many calls for help. What do you think…?"

Lily, who was driving, turned her head toward Fubuki in the passenger seat, looking rather troubled.

Fubuki was also frowning in hesitation.

Tatsumaki was unusually seated in the car. Normally, she either flew through the sky herself or took the Hero Association’s aircraft to be deployed directly.

"Lady Fubuki, it seems the Spirit World Infested Zone has expanded again. Someone in W City just witnessed a giant black figure emerge from the Spirit World."

Tatsumaki frowned. If it was only ordinary Supernatural Ability Users and Spirit World Creatures, she could accept letting Fubuki play at being a hero with those people.

But if that thing had appeared, it was not something Fubuki could handle.

She pushed open the car door. Lily cried out, unable to stop her in time, as Tatsumaki flew directly out of the vehicle and transformed into a streak of green light that vanished in an instant.

In the vehicle behind them, Bai Cangshu also saw Tatsumaki leave.

As Saitama and Tatsumaki departed the group one after another, he clearly sensed the atmosphere within the team change.

Red Dust, hanging outside the car, stopped chattering endlessly, while Sela, seated in the very first vehicle ahead, could no longer contain the chilling smile on his face.

Loka and Short Hair, who were in the same vehicle as him, felt as though they had fallen into an ice pit.

Neither of them had noticed Tatsumaki leaving at all.

Bai Cangshu also grinned. Between Reincarnators, it was always like this—scheming and deception. Betrayal was the eternal theme.

Still seated in the car, he pointed forward with his index finger.

Wheee—

Amid the violent shriek of golden ki, Lilith, who was driving, had yet to realize what was happening when she saw a laser shoot through the windshield, pierce the vehicle Fubuki was riding in ahead, and strike into the foremost car.

That vehicle immediately swerved. Two figures opened the doors on either side and jumped out, and the car exploded with a thunderous boom.

Bai Cangshu stomped down hard.

Bang!

The floor beneath the car was instantly crushed through. His fully Armament Haki-hardened feet slammed into the asphalt, and amid a terrifying roar, the vehicle rapidly lost power as all four wheels left the ground.

"Mr. Mercenary Tao, what are you—"

Lilith gripped the steering wheel, still trembling from the shock. Bai Cangshu tore open the roof and flipped onto the top of the car.

His gaze swept across the surroundings, but he saw no one. Only amid the smoke from the explosion did a translucent figure emerge from the flames before completely concealing itself in the air.

"You’ve gone mad!"

Fubuki got out of the car, furious and shocked, but in the next instant, a streak of white lightning flashed.

Hado #4: Byakurai

The lightning instantly pierced through Fubuki’s chest. As she staggered backward and fell, Fubuki saw the space before her seem to split open into a black door, from which a man in a white suit stepped out.